Progress has gone a long way, and we are glad to take advantage of it, but there are some things that we sincerely regret the loss of. For example, letters and postcards, which are replaced by SMS-kami and electronic mail. They do not carry the warmth and touchingness that carried leaflets with neatly drawn letters folded into
affectionate words. Together with letters and postcards, photographs have sunk into oblivion. We have been storing them for a long time not in beautiful photo albums, but in ordinary folders formed on the computer desktop. The digital form, of course, is convenient, but the opportunity to pick up a piece of history printed on glossy paper is worth a lot. This is what we are going to talk about today: photographs, portraits and prints in passepartout.
We associate this word not with its direct meaning, but with the name of one of the heroes of the popular television show (“Fort Bayard”) or a servant from Jules Verne’s short story “Around the World in 80 Days”. In fact, a passe-partout is a cardboard frame for various kinds of works of art, including photographs. She was especially popular in
XVIII - XX centuries. The main quality of such a framework is the ability to strike a balance between what is depicted in the artwork and what this work will be sent to. Meanwhile, a passe-partout is not only something that can hold work, protect against negative phenomena and balance colors and textures, but also that can serve as the basis for all kinds of notes, autographs, explanations, being essentially fields between work and frame.
Now for the details, but in principle there are not very many of them. A distinctive feature of all instances is a rectangular or oval neckline in the center. A portrait, photograph or other type of artwork is placed in the slot, then the entire exposition is strengthened in a frame. This form of decoration allows, if necessary, to focus on something specific. May increase work size due to optical illusion. A small picture will look ridiculous in a large frame, but to look adequate to it with ease will help the mat. It’s just a storehouse for decoration, not only in the rooms, but also in the works themselves, which, due to a little refinement, get a new life.
Let's look at the design of the mat. The most commonplace and common - it is, of course, a framework of contrasting material. We do not mean the frame in which the mat will be placed, but the additional accents of contrasting materials. The next most common are color solutions of the material. In addition to the fact that this can harmonize or contrast the work itself, it is in its power to combine several essentially different images into one composition, forming a single design solution. Talking about a variety of flowers and angels that can bring in additional characteristic features is not even worth talking about, it is commonplace. The last design technique that can give unforgettable passe-partout is a photo, portrait or engraving collage. Such a move can make the work more touching and gentle as well as give it rigidity.